Latest stories - JC Torres

Yesterday
The hype and media coverage may have died down a bit but many car makers still believe that autonomous is the future of driving. What many won’t admit, however, is how difficult it really is to train those self-driving systems.

Yesterday
How much more improvement can something like a game controller get? The input device has roughly stayed the same for nearly decades keeping the same shape and different only in button and joystick layout, depending on the gaming system.

Yesterday
Huawei just can’t catch a break, which isn’t really a surprise considering the pressure it’s under. Of course, companies in the US are also under the same pressure to cut ties with the Chinese company.

Yesterday
The recent drama surrounding Huawei and the ban imposed by the US government has caused some chaos in the Android world. There will probably be no shortage of smartphone users from the other camp that are feeling relieved that they are far removed from all that.

2 Days Ago
HTC, LG, and Sony are three companies from three different countries that have two things in common. All three’s mobile businesses have been bleeding for years and none of them are ready to give up the fight just yet.

2 Days Ago
Nintendo has a bit of a dilemma when it comes to its mobile games. After years of denying its profitability, it has finally accepted reality, especially when Fire Emblem Heroes net it half a billion in revenue.

2 Days Ago
Benchmarks are great for starting a discussion as those usually have set rules and guidelines that can make comparisons a bit more consistent and standardized. They aren’t, however, great for gauging real-world performance, which can vary wildly depending on unpredictable factors and, sometimes, personal preference.

3 Days Ago
Honor has just unveiled its 2019 entry into the smartphone race and while the company has been known to put out flagship-level phones with affordable prices, the Honor 20 Pro took things to a new level.

3 Days Ago
Up until now, we’ve only heard reports of Sony closing up shops in Southeast Asia and the Middle East to name a few markets. Traditionally, Sony has been pretty quiet about its mobile presence in regional markets and it seemed its secrecy will continue now that the business has been swallowed up by a larger Electronics Products & Solutions business.

3 Days Ago
First it was dual cameras. Then it was bokehs, a.k.a. portrait mode. These days, it seems that the battle over smartphone cameras is moving over to higher level of optical zoom that won’t force OEMs to bulk up their phones.

3 Days Ago
Thanks in part to Apple pushing its AirPods onto the smartphone market, the in-ear Bluetooth earbuds industry has gotten some attention and improvements. From truly wireless designs to touch-sensitive surface, these audio accessories have greatly improved in all but one aspect: battery life.

4 Days Ago
Almost all Android phone makers, with extremely few exceptions, add some extra features to their flavor of Android. Mostly these are frowned upon by advanced users but some do like the value that those add-ons offer.

5 Days Ago
We hear lots of stories of people getting hacked or getting duped into giving out personal information but despite their growing regularity, few take action to protect their online identities.

5 Days Ago
When the US imposed a trade ban on ZTE last year, it almost caused the Chinese company to go bankrupt. While Huawei may last longer than its compatriot, it might not take long before the company is also brought to its knees.

5 Days Ago
Microsoft Windows is the most used operating system in the world, at least when talking about desktop and laptop computers. In addition to the usual consumer and enterprise customers, it is also used in government offices and computers.

5 Days Ago
In a little over a year, Japan will be hosting one of the biggest sporting events in the world. But more than just the technical preparations for the Olympic Games 2020, there’s also the promotion of the event.

8 Days Ago
“Don’t fix what ain’t broke” is not an excuse not to try to innovate but neither is innovation an excuse to break things. That’s true for foldable phones and even truer for airplane control systems.